Titans’ Walker: I’m best tight end in NFL
Delanie Walker snatches a pass from Marcus Mariota near the sideline, the ball whizzing just beyond Kevin Byard’s outstretched hand, and turns to race toward the end zone.
The Titans’ trusty tight end still looks like a force — the chiseled physique, crisp routes, soft hands on full display — and primed for a fourth consecutive Pro Bowl season. But the games that count remain a long way off. This is a non-contact drill, a voluntary offseason practice.
“Honestly, I feel like I’m the best tight end in the league in all phases,” Walker said this week. “Blocking, run blocking, catching the ball, breaking tackles, stuff like that. At the end of the day, if you don’t feel like that you shouldn’t be in the league.”
Walker is preparing for his 13th NFL season. He’s entering the final year of his contract. He turns 34 in August. But he remains an indispensable fixture on offense, and his production remains elite.
Walker led the Titans with 74 catches and 807 receiving yards last season, tying for the third-most catches and fourth-most receiving yards by any tight end in the league. He only caught three touchdowns, an admittedly disappointing total, but even that ranked second-most on the team.
The biggest question is how long this late-career surge can continue.
Over the years, aches pile up. Players slow down. Bodies fail. Walker withstood several injuries last season, willing himself to appear in all 16 regular season games. His performance ranks among rare company.
Only five other tight ends age 33 or older have recorded at least 800 receiving yards in a single season since the NFL-AFL merger, according to pro football reference. Only two from that group have accomplished the feat more than once: Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates.
“Traditionally, it’s a young man’s game,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “For him to be able to do what he’s been doing — and the thing that I appreciate and our coaching staff appreciates — is he’s not just relying on his reputation of what he’s done in the league. … He’s a great example for our young players.”
The Titans drafted Walker’s heir apparent last season, selecting Jonnu Smith in the third round.
Smith appeared in all 16 games his rookie season, but contributed little as a receiver, though his two touchdown catches were good for third-most on the team, which speaks to the offensive struggles last season.
Walker remained by far Mariota’s favorite target, with 20 more receptions than Eric Decker, who led the wide receivers with 54 and, at 31 years old, remains unsigned.
“Every year I try something new,” Walker said, explaining the keys to his success. “I don’t eat pork, I don’t drink alcohol. That’s been helping me, keeping me fit and in shape. Just go out here and I try to bust my butt every day in the weight room, on the field, and it’s tended to work so I’m going to stick to that regimen.”
Walker’s production last season, in terms of catches and receiving yards, was relatively consistent to the previous year. But it still represented a drop from 2015, when he set career highs with 94 catches, 1,088 yards receiving and six touchdown catches and made the first of three consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.
He again set a career high with seven touchdowns in 2016. And he capped last season with two scores in the Pro Bowl, on the way to being named the all-star game’s offensive MVP.
Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter at @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.